SMWS ALUMNUS
Georgie’s journey
Georgie Crawford has come a long way in the whisky world since starting out pouring drams for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society at The Vaults in Leith. SMWS ambassador Lee ‘Connas’ Connor recently caught up with her to find out more about her whisky journey and her current role with Elixir Distillers
ABOVE: Georgie Crawford worked with Diageo in various roles, including overseeing the revival of Port Ellen distillery, before joining Elixir
Proud Ileach Georgie Crawford knows exactly what being at the beating heart of distilling on Islay is like, having looked after both Lagavulin distillery and Port Ellen Maltings, alongside being duty manager at Caol Ila, on behalf of Diageo in recent years. She’s now distillery manager for Portintruan, the island’s newest distillery being constructed by Elixir Distillers. There’s nowhere she’d rather be – even if when she first moved away from the island, it felt like something of an escape.
“I left Islay while I was still at high school, I was only 13 years of age,” says Georgie. “I remember being quite happy about it at the time, because sadly there’s not a lot for young people to do on the island.”
Growing up with publicans for parents must have instilled a leaning towards the hospitality industry, and Georgie worked in various bars and restaurants in Leith and Edinburgh in her early professional life, before taking an 18-month break to go travelling in the late 90s.
“I loved working in bars and restaurants, but I remember getting home and being offered some of my old jobs back, which felt like a backwards step to me,” she says. “I needed a new challenge. So, I walked into the Job Centre at the bottom of Leith Walk to see what was going.”
A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE AT THE SMWS
It was there that she saw an advertisement for an assistant front of house manager’s job for a company called The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, at their venue, The Vaults.
“I knew nothing about whisky at the time, I didn’t even like it to be honest,” says Georgie. “But I wrote “I AM FROM ISLAY” on the application form and was thrilled to get an interview. Even then, during the interview I had to drink some whisky, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep it down. Considering it was from distillery 25, I’m bloody pleased I did!”
What followed was what Georgie refers to as “the best whisky education anyone could wish for”. In the four years she spent at The Vaults, she describes a vast expanse of opportunities and a community that was willing to share its knowledge.
“I was so lucky to be working with such an influential bunch of people,” she says. “Dr Jim Swan looked after our education, we had Arthur Motley as a buyer, Annabel Meikle interviewed me and later became my manager! It was an unbelievable exposure to the whisky industry.
“Then came the moment when I finally got what all the fuss was about, when I tried Society Cask 38.11 – I still have a bottle to this day. Suddenly, the penny dropped, I realised what whisky could be and what it meant. From there I started working with the likes of Charlie MacLean and Robin Laing on the Tasting Panel and a new world opened for me. I can honestly say, I wouldn’t be talking to you now if I’d not popped into Leith Job Centre that day. Everything I’ve done since then is rooted in my time at the SMWS. It was truly life changing.”
ABOVE: Elixir’s plan for Portintruan distillery, which is taking shape under Georgie’s guidance near Port Ellen on Islay
MORE MORE MORE!
Alas, Georgie’s thirst for whisky knowledge would lead her away from The Vaults and up to Speyside, where she managed the Speyside Whisky Shop in Dufftown. She started acquainting herself with proprietary distillery bottlings after her initial immersion in Society single casks, and hosted visiting whisky clubs coming to tour distilleries in the area.
Clearly her interest was piqued, so when an advert for brand home manager at Talisker Distillery on Skye appeared in the local press, she couldn’t resist.
“Working for Diageo was amazing,” says Georgie. “I had ambitions of becoming a global brand ambassador, but working in the distillery and having to learn the production side of things, with duty managers on call for production one week in three, was great. I also worked within the Ord Group for a while, which gave me experience in maltings too. I even helped design their Malt Advocates course, I loved it.
“When my boss called and said that there was a role as global brand ambassador coming up and they’d like me to apply, I noticed that there was another position available on Islay as well. Long story short, I decided to come home, and my experience meant I’d be able to manage Lagavulin but also get to work with Caol Ila and Port Ellen Maltings too. It was the perfect move at exactly the right time.”
THE NEXT MOVE
So, a stratospheric rise from serving members at the world’s biggest whisky club to the world’s biggest producer of single malt Scotch, and a dream job back on her home island. It’s probably time for Georgie to settle down, have a couple of drinks on the veranda and await retirement, right? Wrong!
When word of a new distillery on Islay reverberates around the locality, everyone wants to know the who, what, when and where. It just so happened that Georgie had a contact in the know.
“I met Sukhinder [Singh, owner of Elixir Distillers] when I was being made Keeper of the Quaich and he was being made Master,” says Georgie “I had no idea that he was planning a distillery on Islay at the time, but I’d started noticing him around the island more and more. When public consultation and planning permission for what would became Portintruan distillery went in, who wouldn’t be interested?”
Georgie subsequently joined Elixir as distillery manager for the new site, a move she’s been relishing following her experience with Diageo. “I was happy at Diageo, but it’s difficult to explain just how big it is,” she says. “There are hundreds of people involved with things like maintenance, sourcing raw materials, product design and so on. The opportunity to move to a smaller family-owned company and have hands-on input into every decision, from the actual distillery build to delivering the spirit, was too tempting to resist. And it’s been great, there’s a real family feel around how we do things that serves to keep everyone engaged with what we’re doing.”
A WELCOME ADDITION
On top of building a new distillery, Georgie also found herself back in Speyside when, in 2022 Elixir purchased Tormore distillery.
“As if we weren’t busy enough!” she quips. “But I must say it’s been an absolute pleasure working with the team at Tormore. From the day we walked in, it was clear that the staff wanted the same thing for the distillery as we did – for the spirit to be appreciated in its own right.
“It’s a great atmosphere there, even the folk who left when we took over still pop in for a cup of tea. And it’s helped me get ahead with designing some infrastructure that I’ll eventually need for Portintruan!”
PLANNING PORTINTRUAN
So, the obvious question is…what can we expect from Portintruan? “I’m really excited,” says Georgie. “Of course, there have been lots of new distilleries in the past 30 years or so. But I honestly don’t think anything compares to the facility at Portintruan. It has its own (automated) floor maltings, a pilot plant complete with a column still. The views from the building are enough to bring a tear to the eye, we’re serving the community with events spaces and restaurants. We’ve even incorporated staff housing.
“The frame of the building is up and some floors have been poured. The real work of moving in stills and fitting equipment will start after Feis, so it’s all getting very real right now. I can’t be 100 per cent accurate but I’d love to be commissioning spirit early in 2025.”
Georgie has been on one hell of a ride since she joined us at the SMWS. We can only wish her and the Elixir team every success for the future!
ABOVE: Georgie has also been working with the team at Tormore distillery on Speyside since Elixir purchased it in 2022